New threat to blow up Bayonne police station deemed not credible by police

The Department of Homeland Security received a phone call on Thanksgiving Day from a person who said that an associate of Jose Pimentel, the Manhattan man charged with planning to blow up a Bayonne police station and other targets in New York, was determined to pick up where the jailed Pimentel left off.

The call was received about 4:45 p.m., but by 7:30 p.m. state officials deemed the threat not to be valid, Bayonne Police Chief Robert Kubert said Friday.

“Someone called in to the state Department of Homeland Security a threat in which they mentioned an individual who was an associate of (Jose) Pimentel was going to pick up where he left off and bomb one of the targets,” Kubert said.

By 7:30 p.m. Thursday, state officials had located the man mentioned in the phone call to Homeland Security and he was interviewed and the threat was deemed not credible, Kubert said. The chief said the man named by the caller is a New Jersey resident living outside Hudson County.

The caller has not been identified but the matter remains under investigation, Kubert said.

Security has been high since the department was informed of the allegation against the 27-year-old Pimentel.

Pimentel, an alleged al-Qaida sympathizer, was arrested by New York City police and charged Nov. 19 with plotting to kill U.S. soldiers and blow up a number of police stations and post offices in New York City, along with the Bayonne police station.

Security was beefed up Friday at Bayonne City Hall, which houses the police department.

It’s still a mystery why Bayonne might be targeted.

“We have spoken to all investigating agencies involved in the investigation and can’t come up with a reason why he (Pimentel) would mention Bayonne,” Kubert said.